This is the 4th EP from Montreal emcee, producer & engineer Mike Shabb. Coming up in the spring of 2018 off his full-length debut Northwave, he would continue to make his presence known by putting out his last 3 EPs & a couple of mixtapes before gaining notoriety for engineering Boldy James’ 5th album Fair Exchange No Robbery & producing “Switches on Everything” off Hitler Wears Hermes X this past fall. So to continue capitalizing off that, Mike’s bringing in his mentor & one of the most prolific beatsmiths that the underground has seen in recent memory Nicholas Craven to fully produce Shadow Moses from top to bottom.
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“Smokin’ Samson” is an atmospherically drumless opener with Shabbo letting y’all know that he only smokes only the finest kush in the world whereas “All Greatness” takes a more soulful route to flex his lyrical prowess. “Play for Keeps” goes into a groovier direction advising to look around & tell him what you see while the song “Save the Joker” incorporates some crooning background vocals making it clear that not even God can save you. The penultimate track “Baskiat” has more delicate sound to it talking about how the repercussions will be felt & learning from his mistakes just before “Respectfully” comes through with a jazzy closer boasting that no one can do it the way he does it.
From the moment Craven himself introduced me to this guy by networking us through social media, I knew it was only a matter of time before his profile in the underground would grow & I highly recommend that the people who were first exposed to Mike through “Switches on Everything” give Shadow Moses a listen because it’s my favorite solo effort of his to date. He really is at his best as an MC which should satisfy the new fans he’s already made & those he’ll continue bring in with his mentor also helping make it his most well-produced effort as well.
Score: 9/10